The Southern Ontario/WNY Radio-TV Forum / AM640 Gives A Relative Newcomer A Shot At Its Morning Drive Show

**Posted by RadioActive** July 6, 2025 6:34 am

Greg Brady is taking what he says will be his only vacation of the summer this coming week and will be back on July 14th. What's interesting to me is who AM640 has decided to put in his place on the all important morning show.

It's Brad Smith, a former BT host, CFL player and "Bachelor" contestant, who has been doing weekend fill-in and sat in for ten days when John Oakley took time off. I suppose if he can handle the afternoon drive he can do the morning. But for such a relatively inexperienced guy (in radio at least) to be handed the often complicated morning slot - there's a lot to juggle in those three and a half hours - seems to me to be an odd choice.

Still, he's acquitted himself well in the slots he's done, and the other question would be - who else do they have? Unless you put one of the other hosts in that time and disrupt the schedule, I'm not sure what choice they have. 640 has always left itself pretty thin in the fill-in department, and now that's coming home to roost.

I wish Smith luck - out of the frying pan and into the fire. He's constantly talked in the past about how radio is a different animal than TV. I'll be curious to see how he does.

**Posted by Binson Echorec** July 6, 2025 1:40 pm

Times like this are when you absolutely need a rock star Technical Producer and Content Producer to guide the less experienced host.

I know 640's morning TP is solid, don't know about the CP.

Last edited by Binson Echorec (July 6, 2025 2:33 pm)

**Posted by RadioActive** July 7, 2025 7:47 am

Interesting that John Tory is in for John Moore on CFRB Monday. So the two talk formats in town are both missing their regular morning hosts, leaving it to the battle of the subs. That doesn't happen very often.

**Posted by Shorty Wave** July 7, 2025 7:54 am

RadioActive wrote:
Interesting that John Tory is in for John Moore on CFRB Monday. So the two talk formats in town are both missing their regular morning hosts, leaving it to the battle of the subs. That doesn't happen very often.

I don’t remember John Moore mentioning that John Tory was on today, so when I tuned in, Tory was speaking and after a minute or so, I thought, “man, that’s a long answer from Tory”, then the penny dropped, around the same time the coffee kicked in……!

**Posted by RadioActive** July 7, 2025 8:11 am

Moore is taking a long weekend and will return on Tuesday.

**Posted by RadioActive** July 7, 2025 9:28 am

Tory confirmed on Monday that he'll be doing two more morning shifts in the not-too-distant future: the last week of July and the first week of August, when Moore takes his two-week vacation.

I know some here are not fans of Tory, but he is the perfect fill-in host for the station, having done the afternoon drive shift for so many years and knowing how the place works.

My question: if he decides to run for mayor again, as many pundits believe he will, he can't host any program. So who does 1010 have that can take the morning show?

I don't think either Deb Hutton or Jim Richards would be very good on the AM drive shift. (Besides, they're way too busy filling in for each other seemingly every other week!) So if Tory is unavailable. who else does CFRB have that's experienced enough to take this regular substitute's place?

Frankly I can't think of a name, although I wish they'd give it to Robert Turner, who is otherwise engaged as P.D.

**Posted by AspectRatio** July 7, 2025 10:01 am

RadioActive wrote:
I don't think either Deb Hutton or Jim Richards would be very good on the AM drive shift. (Besides, they're way too busy filling in for each other seemingly every other week!) So if Tory is unavailable. who else does CFRB have that's experienced enough to take this regular substitute's place?

I'm thinking they'd likely ask Dave Trafford on a contract/freelance basis. Trafford has filled in on that morning show slot before. I recall that he was removed from the "Round Table" panels a couple years ago and said in an episode of one of his podcasts that there was a hallway/informal talk implication his own "Story Studio Network" is a competition for Bell and its own podcasts. That thinking seems to have eased a bit as he's been back on the Round Tables since.

**Posted by Muffaraw Joe** July 7, 2025 2:46 pm

Brad Smith is also good friends with Ben Mulroney, having worked together in the past, plus his dad Larry Smith, was a former Alouette and CFL Commissioner too.

I posted a few weeks ago, that I had heard him covering for Alex on the mid-day show and he sounded great.

Last edited by Muffaraw Joe (July 7, 2025 3:09 pm)

**Posted by jughead jones** July 8, 2025 5:53 am

Brad Smith is much better than Kevin Frankish.

**Posted by Aytononline** July 8, 2025 6:13 am

I always liked Kevin Frankish as a news anchor, but not so much as a host. His YouTube channel never did amount to very much with only a handful of views for each video.
I will give him credit that he keeps trying and he must be well liked in the industry because they keep on giving him a chance.

**Posted by jughead jones** July 8, 2025 8:06 am

I am sure he is a wonderful human being with a huge heart - he just is not a morning radio host.

**Posted by RadioActive** July 9, 2025 7:00 am

After listening for a few days, I think Brad Smith has actually acquitted himself fairly well on the morning show. Not an easy gig to slide into and he's done OK. Sounds like Corus may have found their permanent fill-in guy for future absences.

**Posted by Shorty Wave** July 9, 2025 8:04 am

AspectRatio wrote:
RadioActive wrote:
I don't think either Deb Hutton or Jim Richards would be very good on the AM drive shift. (Besides, they're way too busy filling in for each other seemingly every other week!) So if Tory is unavailable. who else does CFRB have that's experienced enough to take this regular substitute's place?
I'm thinking they'd likely ask Dave Trafford on a contract/freelance basis. Trafford has filled in on that morning show slot before. I recall that he was removed from the "Round Table" panels a couple years ago and said in an episode of one of his podcasts that there was a hallway/informal talk implication his own "Story Studio Network" is a competition for Bell and its own podcasts. That thinking seems to have eased a bit as he's been back on the Round Tables since.

Dave Trafford would be a great fill in! I enjoyed his weekend show on 1010 and was really disappointed when he stepped down. His podcasts are well done too, informed guests etc. So my vote is for Trafford!